In this blog, My friends (the evil minions) and I lay waste to idiots of all types. We also cover other blogs and news tidbits for your review ... and anything else we damn well please.
Guess who said it. Click the link for the full article and the answer.
The statement read in part, “This is easily the smartest political leader I have ever seen, as good a political public speaker as I’ve heard, last October I was privileged along with 11 other news people to spend 2 hours with him as he showed extemporaneous mastery of every one of two dozen topics fired at him by us in random order. I left the room wondering if we had ever before actually elected a president who was one of the 1,000 smartest people in the country (or maybe 100, or 10) as we had now. I believe in him and in his presidency and he has frequently achieved success (in health care reform, particularly) by doing that for which I criticized him. I hope that is again the case now because the Gulf Speech was not up to his standards nor did it express his mastery of policy.”
I'll give you a hint. He's a jourrrrrrnalist who pretends to have attended an Ivy League school.
Fremont, NE - The American Civil Liberties Union warns it will go to court to stop a proposed immigration law in Fremont, if voters approve it in two weeks. The law would ban hiring or renting to illegal immigrants.
The ACLU will ask for a court order to stop the law from taking effect if it passes. "We are hopeful that the voters will reject this pointless initiative," says ACLU Nebraska Legal Director Amy Miller, "The law is crystal clear. Only the federal government can make laws about immigration. States and towns are out of line when they enter this area."
Under the proposal, renters would have to get a license from the city. City officials would then be required to check a database to see if renters are in the country legally. Employers would be required to check workers against the federal E-Verify database to see if they are in the country legally.
The attorney representing the Fremont residents who sought the vote, expects the ACLU's threat of legal action. "They will quite often threaten communities with legal action," says Kris Kobach, "sometimes they follow through with legal action, but rarely do they actually prevail."
Supporters of the proposal say it's needed to make up for what they see as lax enforcement by federal officials. Opponents say it could fuel discrimination.
The Fremont City Council considered a policy similar to the proposed ordinance in 2008 and rejected it. Proponents collected enough petition signatures to call for a public vote. The Nebraska Supreme Court refused to stop the election.
The election is June 21. Early voting started last week.
Reported by Carrie Murphy, cmurphy@action3news.com
(Yes lets not discriminate against illegals, but lets discriminate against legals.)
Louisiana Gov. Bobby Jindal has spent the past week and half fighting to get working barges to begin vacuuming crude oil out of his state's oil-soaked waters. By Thursday morning, against the governor's wishes, those barges still were sitting idle, even as more oil flowed toward the Louisiana shore.
"It's the most frustrating thing," the Republican governor told ABC News while visiting Buras, La. "Literally, [Wednesday] morning we found out that they were halting all of these barges."
Sixteen barges sat stationary Thursday, although they had been sucking up thousands of gallons of BP's oil as recently as Tuesday. Workers in hazmat suits and gas masks pumped the oil out of the Louisiana waters and into steel tanks. It was a homegrown idea that seemed to be effective at collecting the thick gunk.
But the Coast Guard ordered the stoppage because of reasons that Jindal found frustrating. The Coast Guard needed to confirm that there were fire extinguishers and life vests on board, and then it had trouble contacting the people who built the barges. More here:
Perhaps the ivy league geniuses were too busy trying to convince everyone how stupid Sarah Palin is. That sure seems to take up a lot of their free time.I sure am glad we're putting them in charge of health care and car companies and banks, aren't you?
Okay, we all know that Canada is the Mecca of Liberals and is notorious for taking "I'm ok, you're ok" way too far. Nevertheless, this is comical. Here's a little game- try and find the name of the guilty party- the person who took it upon himself or herself to censor the school's yearbook. The only clue I'll give you is that it's in there... somewhere.
Vancouver Island school officials have ordered a reprinting of a middle-school yearbook after a teacher took scissors to 150 yearbooks and cut out the photograph of a Grade 10 student who had made "hurtful and untrue" comments about the principal.
"We want to put things right," Susan Barr, chairwoman of the Comox Valley board of education, said Wednesday amid public anger over the clipping of Brandon Armstrong's picture from the yearbook along with his comment -- which slipped past editors -- accusing Lake Trail secondary school principal Lori Carpenter of spending "all our money on a new fence instead of new textbooks."
The comment in question "slipped past the editors". Really? The only thing that editors have to do is read the stuff that other people have written and make sure it's accurate, interesting and coherent. I know- "tough job". It sounds to me like the editors were busy doing "other things" rather than editing.
The district, not the principal, made the decision to install the fence, Barr noted, while praising staff for resolving a contentious issue. Although she didn't know what the district would be charged for reprinting, she said "it's a cost that the district will gladly bear."
Superintendent Jordan Tinney later said a local printer had agreed to reprint the yearbooks for $750, well short of an original estimate of $3,000.
The teacher in question freely admitted to cutting out the offending student's picture and quote. The school district said that the cost of reprinting the books was "a cost that the district will gladly bear." I guess that's because why on earth would the guilty party ever have to take responsibility for his own actions? Really?
Furthermore, the local printing company agreed to reprint the yearbooks for $750 rather than the original $3000 estimate. I don't know what their actual printing costs were and I'd like to believe that they didn't lose money by reprinting at a discount but since they're Canadian, I'd have to lower my expectations. Let's imagine that they did charge actual cost for the reprinting. I wonder if they considered wear and tear on their printing machines. I wonder if they considered time lost from the people who operate those machines. Keep in mind that my experience with the printing business is zero so there are probably a slew of other hidden and unhidden costs of which I'm unaware.
Brandon's mother, Sherri Kennedy, said she felt the school mishandled the issue but she was pleased with the decision to reprint the yearbook to include her son's picture. "It's the right decision. Our goal was to get it reprinted."
On Wednesday, the school called Brandon and told him to come up with a new comment, which Kennedy said he would do overnight with her help.
Carpenter, meanwhile, said she received a flood of hate mail after the story was published by the local newspaper and picked up by the national media -- even though she did not order the excising and was at home with a sick child the day it happened. The decision to cut Brandon's picture out of every yearbook, except his own, was made by the teacher in charge of production, Ken Piercy.
Of course, the principal wasn't to blame either- "even though she did not order the excising and was at home with a sick child the day it happened." That cracked me up. As far as I'm concerned, there are no bad teams- only bad leaders. In this case though, they not only meep about the person who was actually guilty but also make it crystal clear that those who aren't guilty really are not guilty. No really- see? She wasn't even in the country at the time. They even iterate this assertion two paragraphs later. So... "really, no really"?
Upset to discover Brandon's comment post-publication, Piercy, a well-respected teacher, took action that he thought was right, Barr said. He inserted a note into every yearbook apologizing for the cut, but stating: "I will not allow anything to be published that is hurtful and untrue."
Although Carpenter didn't make the decision, she said she received "ugly" hate mail from across the country. "It's bordering on scary," she said in an interview. "People have gone way off the deep end."
Barr agreed, saying: "What has been really difficult for me personally and the district is the level of public anger directed at Lori Carpenter. ... That's really difficult for us to swallow." She said the e-mail, some of which was copied to her, included vicious, personal attacks.
Earlier in the day, assistant superintendent Sherry Elwood defended the decision to remove Brandon's comment from the yearbook.
"I don't believe that's censorship," she told the Comox Valley Echo. "That's about you being responsible for what you put in print under your name as being true. That's really what it's about."
She doesn't believe that's censorship. That doesn't change the definition of "censorship" any more than proclaiming "I don't believe in guns" will put a stop to homicides. I'm not sure of her use of "that's" instead of "it's" but it's likely that she's trying to distance herself from the situation as much as possible. She goes on to assert that "it's about you being responsible for what you put in print under your name as being true. That's really what it's about." Really? Does anyone believe this? Does anyone believe a 6 year old when they tell you "I don't want the chocolate milk for the chocolate, I want it for the milk."
But Kennedy said her son wasn't trying to stir up trouble. "It was just a random comment," she said. "He's 15 ... he didn't mean anything by it."
Ah, that's blissful. After all that, she strips away the last shred of dignity and integrity the boy could have because "posh- he's only 15... what does he know". Liberals are all about falsifying self-esteem but heaven help you if you show any signs of thinking and acting for yourself. There is safety in conformity. Now, get back in line.
Just register as a Democrat. Of course, the MSM will be outraged by this statement except that it was made by a Democrat and fellow newsperson.
The left's strategy is clear: any opposition to President Obama is not driven by ideological and/or political disagreement. No, it's driven by racism and whole groups of people have been strategically tarnished.
You would think these people would be even more careful, then again the majority of people making racist statements against the president these days seems to be coming from the left....
He said I know this is going to be — lead to some, quote, difficulty for the guys who work on those rigs.
Well, if he thinks that some guys on the rigs are the only people that are going to be affected by a six-month oil moratorium, he’s out of his cotton-picking mind. —Julia Reed, Newsweek senior editor on CNN on Anderson Cooper 360
My version: This guy (Filburn) was growing wheat ... on his own property ... for his own use ... and the federal government stopped him from doing it ... and made him destroy the wheat ... and pay a fine. How's THAT for "liberty?"
Wickard v. Filburn, 317 U.S. 111 (1942), was a U.S. Supreme Court decision that dramatically increased the power of the federal government to regulate economic activity. A farmer, Roscoe Filburn, was growing wheat to feed his chickens. The U.S. government had imposed limits on wheat production based on acreage owned by a farmer, in order to drive up wheat prices during the Great Depression, and Filburn was growing more than the limits permitted. Filburn was ordered to destroy his crops and pay a fine, even though he was producing the excess wheat for his own use and had no intention of selling it.
The Supreme Court, interpreting the United States Constitution's Commerce Clause (which permits the United States Congress to "regulate Commerce . . . among the several States") decided that, because Filburn's wheat growing activities reduced the amount of wheat he would buy for chicken feed on the open market, and because wheat was traded nationally, Filburn's production of more wheat than he was allotted was affecting interstate commerce, and so could be regulated by the federal government. More details at wikipedia:
This is a very famous case known as "Wikard vs Filburn." Try to remember the name of the case because you will probably hear it again. Notice that it isn't "US vs Filburn." My guess is it had something to do with "standing" but you can research it yourself if you want.
This whole "standing" issue is huge as it regards losing your freedom. Somehow all these "environmentalist" groups have "standing" to sue oil companies on your behalf. I think congress gave them standing some time ago and they've used it ever since to sue and sue and sue. Not just oil companies either, they've got their hands in everything. Of course, when companies have to defend themselves against these suits, they either drop their activity or they have to pay to defend themselves in court ... both of which increase the price you pay for their product ... over and over and over again.
Also, notice how the Supreme Court used the commerce clause to insert its big nose into your business. The commerce clause is supposed to PROMOTE commerce, not hinder it. In this case there wasn't any commerce, much less interstate commerce, but did that stop the federal government from coming for Roscoe's your liberty?
We needed the commerce clause because, back in the day, the states would do ridiculous things like tax the ever-loving-crap out of products from competing states etc and it all got out of hand. However, once the playing ground was level (to use a favorite term of liberals,) the goverment has no more business it it. Notice the "playing ground" was originally UNLEVELED by the state governments with their taxes etc so the feds had to fix it.
After that, the free market should be left alone. Over the long term people learn not to engage in certain behaviors due to the negative effects they might have over GENERATIONS. It is my contention that this is how people learn. This is how societies advance ... when parents teach their children not to engage in behavior due to LONG TERM CONSEQUENCES then we're getting somewhere.
But ... when you have the federal government come in and "help" they never get it quite right. People eventually find ways around the idiocy and the government has to get involved in more and more minutia with the "lesson" never getting learned.
Meanwhile, we're learning another lesson ... the federal government's unnecessary involvement in the free market only delays the other inevitable lessons that must be learned from time to time ... and we only end up suffering longer. THIS is the reason I hate the idiot liberals who think the government can solve all of our problems.
The Filburn farm today is, practically speaking, the site of the Salem Mall near Dayton, Ohio. This photo of Roscoe Filburn at the time of his Supreme Court case was provided by his daughter, Mary Lou Spurgeon.
I really hate to have to explain this but hopefully some Democrats will be reading and might learn something. In the ever so clever video mash above, the DNC (Democrat National Convention) reviles Senator Joe Barton for apologizing to the CEO of BP. What they don't seem to grasp is that he's apologizing for the actions of the Obama administration for sidestepping the law and skirting around lawful and legal behavior which ordinarily befits the U.S. Government (or ought to anyway).
What has happened here is that the Obama administration has decided what's right, fair and just without subjecting itself to any existing checks and balances as originally installed by the Constitution. I don't think that anyone would argue that BP appears to be at fault for the oil spill catastrophe in the gulf. Few people would disagree that they've handled it poorly thus far. It seems clear that they should be held accountable to any criminal or civil suits that are brought against them. BUT in this country, we have a legal system which has been designed to handle this sort of issue.
What we've witnessed is the Executive branch doing all of our thinking for us. Obviously, they've gotten quite comfortable doing that on a regular basis in recent history but when are we going to say "enough"? This sort of decision making on the behalf of others does nothing but worry me. It's the same kind of tactic used by drug dealers, pimps and other societal leeches.
See, what they do is get you comfortable with their making your choices for you. They make the obvious choices at first. They'll decide what you would have decided anyway. Superficially, it'll look like a perfect decision and they'll gain a little bit of your trust. In the short term, you'll benefit and everyone's happy. After a few of those, the decisions get a little more dubious and when you question them, they'll tell you, "I never let you down in the past, did I? Come on- you can trust me."
(Now for me, "trust me" is a red flag. I have almost always been ultimately disappointed by someone who used that phrase. Maybe it was self-fulfilling prophecy. Maybe not. Either way, I steer clear of anyone who says that or who acts like that.)
After that, you start to wonder whose side they're on. It'll start to seem like they're pulling a Don King on you and the 50-50 upon which you originally agreed starts to look more and more like 60-40. You start to worry because their explanations get more and more complicated and tougher to follow or to understand. By then it's already too late.
The moment you let them make your first decision for you, you're owned. This is something crystal clear to Conservatives and completely foreign to Liberals. The Liberals are all outraged at Senator Barton because "Doesn't he get it? We're getting a boatload of money from BP! This is great!"
I don't know about the rest of you but what I see happening next is the Obama administration keeping that $20bb (that's billion- like million but with a b) and using it to fund alternative energy projects because "Clearly, we need them now more than ever."
Worse than that is that the Obama administration is overstepping their bounds by taking money that they don't have the right to take. Nobody is complaining much about that because they think it's money that BP deserves to pay. What happens though when they overstep their bounds the next time and they tell us, "Hey- you let us do it last time. You didn't have a problem last time. What changed? Last time, you were happy with the result so don't worry- this time will be the same. Trust me."
The Sacramento City Council voted Tuesday night to place economic sanctions against Arizona companies in response to that state's immigration laws.
The sanctions passed by a 6-1 council vote are on par with the broadest actions passed by other California cities, including Los Angeles, San Francisco and Oakland.
They include forbidding city workers from attending conferences in Arizona on the city's dime, boycotting companies based in Arizona "where practicable and where there is no significant additional cost to the city" and potentially canceling current contracts with firms from Arizona. More here:
This is a good video. Of course, he couldn't go the whole time without mentioning Sarah Palin. He was so close to doing a great job. At least he's improving...
If you have not heard, the pork industry is looking for a new slogan. The old one you should recognize as "Pork, the other white meat". Well I am going to try to enter the contest myself and have come up with a few. Vote for the one you like best and I will send it in, or come up with your own and I will send that one in if I like it better.
1. Real men eat pigs too
2. Pork, if its squealing it ain't done yet.
3. If it looks like a pig, smells like a pig, taste like a pig, drink more and close your eyes it should improve.
4. Democrats love pigs too, i.e. Nancy Pelosi, Barbara Boxer, Madeleine Albright, etc
5. (my favorite) If it's good for Washington it's good for all of us
6. Piss off a Muslim, eat more Pork
7. Unlike cake, you can have your pig and eat it too
8. Beer, wine, whiskey, it all goes good with pig, it's just that you have to drink so dam much of it first
The mother of rescued American teenage sailor Abby Sunderland has said the family cannot afford to reimburse the Australian Government for the cost of saving her daughter which could top $300,000.
[Of course they can't. Why should they? They allowed and encouraged their daughter do something gallactically stupid so why should they be responsible for the inevitable mysterious and tragic outcome?]
"What price would you put on a child's life?" Maryanne Sunderland said yesterday when questioned about compensation.
[Red Herring. Do they think that anyone is putting a price on a child's life? Probably not but it's a lot easier to argue this point than it is to deny the fact that rescues cost money. Airplane fuel costs money. Helicopter fuel costs money. Rescue ships cost money. Rescue crews don't work for free. Granted, most of these rescue squads are government supported but why is it that they think that it's fair to have the rest of us paying taxes to support their idiotic habits?]
"The full cost of chartering an Airbus would be so high, you'd think they (Australian rescue authorities) would have to work with the US government for that."
[Yes- share the cost with as many people as possible so that you never get push back for wasting any one entity's money.]
"We're not wealthy people."
[Their 16 year old daughter attempted (on more than one occasion) to sail a 40 foot yacht around the world yet "we're not wealthy people". Wealth is relative, but when you claim you're "not wealthy people", compare yourself to most people- not to the rich people you spend all your free time idolizing.]
Late yesterday, with the 16-year-old Californian safely aboard the Ile De La Reunion fishing vessel which picked her up 2000 nautical miles off the Western Australian coast, a spokesman for Transport Minister Anthony Albanese said the full cost of the rescue mission was yet to be worked out.
But it included her delivery to La Reunion, an island east of Madagascar, off the east coast of Africa.
"The expectation is that she will be transferred to La Reunion as part of the search and rescue operation," he said. "From that point the family or US consulate would take responsibility."
The Australian Maritime Safety Authority's Rescue Coordination Centre took over the rescue of Ms Sunderland from the French on Friday, after her stricken yacht Wild Eyes drifted into Australia's search and rescue region.
A Qantas A330 Airbus with spotters on board located the yacht later that day. Two Australian Defence Force APC3 Orians were also deployed.
It was also revealed yesterday the American Sailing Association refused to sponsor Ms Sunderland's solo circumnavigation bid, citing concerns about the timing of her trip.
Ms Sunderland has hit out at her critics.
"There are plenty of things people can think of to blame for my situation; my age, the time of year and many more," she wrote on her blog on Saturday. "The truth is, I was in a storm and you don't sail through the Indian Ocean without getting in at least one storm.
"Storms are part of the deal when you set out to sail around the world. As for age, since when does age create gigantic waves and storms?"
Uh, Red Herring. Nobody is suggesting that her age had anything to do with the storm only with her inability to deal with those waves and storms due to lack of experience.
The young woman has vowed to attempt another circumnavigation.
TEHRAN, June 14 (Reuters) - Iran is sending aid ships to blockaded Gaza, state radio said on Monday -- a move likely to be considered provocative by Israel which accuses Tehran of arming the Palestinian enclave's Islamist rulers, Hamas.
Yes ... those poor, poor "Palestinians" need "aid." It's like a whole country on welfare.
One ship left port on Sunday and another will depart by Friday, loaded with food, construction material and toys, the report said. The boats would be part of international efforts to break Israel's isolation of the Gaza Strip.
"Until the end of the Gaza blockade, Iran will continue to ship aid," said an official at Iran's Society for the Defence of the Palestinian Nation.
A senior Iranian official said earlier Iran's elite Revolutionary Guards were ready to provide a military escort to aid ships heading to Gaza if Supreme Leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei so commands. More here:
And when the "aid" ships arrive, Israel will probably offer to offload and deliver the aid (just like they did with the previous ships.) That offer will be refused (by the"Palestinians")- just like it was before. It appears the "Palestinians" aren't in such dire need of "aid" as was previously thought. Hmmmm, that's quite a mystery, isn't it?
Anyway, it appears much more excitement is coming. I can't wait.
Oh, how would you like to be a member of the "Elite Revolutionary Guards" if they had to escort the ships? I know I wouldn't because I'm thinking the Ayatollah wouldn't hesitate one second in his decision to waste your life to make the Jews look bad.
Last fall, Speaker Nancy Pelosi moved her district office into the new federal building in San Francisco. The move quadrupled the rent she pays, and her new $18,736 monthly bill is almost double the next-highest rental paid by a Member of the House. More here
Ha ha, these politicians squander your money. And when they "run out" they squander your kids' money, and when they "run out" of that they squander your grandkids' money. It kills me. They don't give one flaming damn.
Hey Nancy, GREAT NEW DIRECTION for America. I hear Greece and Europe are going in the same direction. WOO HOO!! Keep spending with abandonthough, no worries, people in San Francisco are too stupid to boot your ass.
Take the test here. Don't sign in or anything, just click the green "next" bar. ... and at the end they ask you your gender/age etc - just disregard it and click "Show my results" - or whatever it says.
Ever wonder what it would be like to hear Obama debate Reagan?Here ya go.
In that video/audio - Obama said two things that really grabbed my attention:
1 - "... make a virtue out of selfishness ... "
2 - ",,, break free from the restraints that were placed by the founding fathers in the Constitution ..."
There is a book by Ayn Rand called "The Virtue of Selfishness." She also wrote "Capitalism, The Unknown Ideal" as well as "Atlas Shrugged." Obama hates her ... ALL the lefties hate Ayn Rand.
"Break free of the constraints of the Consitution?" This jackass has GOT to go -- as well as all the communistsDemocrats who agree with him. Our founders KNEW there would be tyrants people like him and that's EXACTLY the reason they wrote the Constitution - to PROTECT us from them.
You may have heard the World Cup is going on. Yesterday the US played England in a much-hyped match. Here are my thoughts:
I know less than zero about soccer and I've never watched it on tv but I watched most of the game yesterday. By the time I turned it on the score was already 1-1 so there was no more scoring but it was still fairly exciting. I don't know the rules though so I was confused part of the time (free kicks etc.) And it took me about 5 minutes before I even know which team was which.
The thing I noticed most was the constant -- AND I MEAN CONSTANT - blaring of foghorns (Vuvuzela horns)from the crowd. I can't imagine two solid hours of that. That's ridiculous. I could never go to a game. That would drive me nuts. I'd turn into a "soccer hooligan."
They claim it's a cultural thing. Well, let me tell you, it's RUDE, you jackasses. I read an article that said you couldn't buy a set of earplugs within a 50 mile radius - LMAO!
PS - I think their hiring practices must be discriminatory - where are all the fat players?
UPDATE: - (Excerpts)
JOHANNESBURG — World Cup organising committee head Danny Jordaan on Sunday did not rule out banning vuvuzelas, the noisy plastic trumpets which have proved a hit with fans in South Africa but threaten to deafen players and viewers alike.
Criticism of the vuvuzelas has been almostas loud as the instruments themselves with broadcasting companies complaining the din is almost drowning out commentary.
France captain Patrice Evra said the incessant noise was a factor in his side's poor display in their draw with Uruguay. According to Evra: "We can't sleep at night because of the vuvuzelas. People start playing them from 6 a.m. We can't hear one another out on the pitch because of them," the Frenchman added. More here:
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